For the first part of The Borgias Season 3, it seemed like Rome was doomed. Caterina Sforza (Gina McKee) seemed to be building alliances that threated the very existence of The Borgia Pope (Jeremy Irons), Rodrigo Borgia's dynasty. And with Juan Borgia dead at the end of Season 2, the Pope's army was basically destroyed. But, the pope's other son, Cesare Borgia (Francois Arnaud), has made it his mission this summer to take control and get Rome back on her feet.
After last week's episode, it was clear that the tides are shifting and that Cesare's plan to build a massive army is in action. But, the episode did leave some questions. Is Cesare building an army to support his father or to take his own power over Italy?
Until those questions are answered, here is the status on the two opposing armies in Italy at this point in the season.
Rome and Her Allies:
Leader: Pope Alexander, Rodrigo Borgia
Army's Commander: Cesare Borgia is the Pope's son.
Allies: 1. Michelleto (Sean Harris): Cesare's manservant who executes all of Cesare's evil plans. He is now watching over Cesare's sister-lover, Lucrezia Borgia (Holliday Grainger), in Naples.2. France: Cesare went to France and annulled the French King's marriage. In return, he got a French bride and a French army.3. Band of Italy's Bastard Sons: The second and illegitimate sons of Italy's greatest families have sided with Cesare instead of Caterina Sforza.
Lost Allies:Rome has the advantage right now.
Key Tactics and Advantages:1. Cesare won France to Rome's side. This means that he has to give them Milan and Naples, though.2. Cesare has also stolen the band of Italy's bastard sons from the enemy.
Disadvantages:1. It almost seems like Cesare is trying to build an army to support himself and not his father. This could create a division within Rome.
Anti-Papal Forces:
Leader: Caterina Sforza (Gina McKee)
Army's Commander: Rufio (Thure Lindhardt) is Caterina's lackey.
Allies: 1. No new allies at this point.
Lost Allies:1. Italy's wealthy families are now supporting Cesare.2. The King of Naples is now dead.
Key Tactics and Advantages:1. Leaving Milan's doors open to Cesare's army and leaving the city empty of defense.
Disadvantages:1. Lost alliances.
Follow Lindsey on Twitter @LDiMat.
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We are about to be three episodes deep into Season 3 of the Showtime series The Borgias and so far, it's clear that the world is against Rome. At the end of Season 2, we were left wondering if the Borgia Pope's enemies had succeeded in killing him. But during Episode 1 of this season, we learned that like a cockroach, the Pope can survive just about anything. He even came back to life after facing one of the deadliest poisons known at the time. But just because he is alive and now well doesn't mean that his enemies have given up the plan to take his life. In fact, this season, it seems like even more enemies have ganged up against Rodrigo Borgia and his unholy ways.
At the end of Episode 2, it was clear that Rome is heading towards war. But who is on whose side this week? Because The Borgias' shifting alliances always leave you scratching your heads, we're here to help you track where the battle lines are drawn. Who hates who? And what should their strategies be? Read on to find out!
Rome and Her Allies:
Leader: Pope Alexander, Rodrigo Borgia (Jeremy Irons): The Borgia pope is hated in the Roman Empire for his greed and the use of God to promote his illegitimate family.
Army's Commander: Cesare Borgia (Francois Arnaud) is the Pope's son and a former Cardinal who is now in charge of the Papal army.
Allies: 1. Michelleto (Sean Harris): Cesare's manservant who executes all of Cesare's evil plans.2. Cardinal Sforza (Peter Sullivan): He switched to the Pope's side when the Pope lived after being poisoned. The Pope has used this cardinal to help eliminate the enemy cardinals.3. Possible: Cardinal Farneze: We have yet to meet this character, but since the Pope's affair with Giulia Farneze has come to an end, she has asked him to make her brother a Cardinal — and Giulia and the Pope ended their affair on good terms.4. Possible: France: Unlike last season, France is in bed with the Pope. A new king rules France and is stuck in a marriage to a quite undesirable woman. When the French Ambassador asked the Pope to dissolve the King's marriage, Borgia saw this as an opportunity to create a new allie. Now, he plans on marrying Cesare to a French woman to build the alliance.
Lost Allies:1. Prince Alfonso (Augustus Prew): Alfonso refused to bed Lucrezia Borgia (Holliday Grainger) on their wedding night because he felt jaded by her family's intentions for the union. Alfonso instead spent their wedding night alone and crying as Lucrezia gave herself to her brother Cesare.
Key Tactics and Advantages:1. The Pope plans to pin Juan Borgias' (Rodrigo's second son who Cesare actually killed during Season 2) murder on Caterina. 2. The Pope eliminated the cardinals in the conclave who did not support the Borgia initiative. This was done by stripping them of their titles, riches, and property.
Disadvantages:1. The Papal army is defunct and not well manned.
Anti-Papal Forces:
Leader: Caterina Sforza (Gina McKee) and her family are openly against the Pope and his evil ways.
Army's Commander: Rufio (Thure Lindhardt) is Caterina's lackey who is in charge of building the Sforza alliances.
Allies: 1. Wealthy Families of Rome who hate the Borgias: Last week, Caterina assigned Rufio to start aligning the sons of Rome's prominent families to help her take down the Pope. The division was clearly shown at Lucrezia's wedding during Episode 2.2. King of Naples: Lucrezia's union with Alfonso was supposed to mean that Rome and Naples would be united, but because Lucrezia refused to part with her illegitimate son when she moved to Naples, Alfonso's uncle (the King of Naples) decided to pledge his allegiance to Caterina.
Lost Allies:1. Cardinal Orsini (David Dencik): After the Pope stripped him of his title, Orsini asked for a final confession. During this confession, he tried to kill the Pope. Instead, the Pope took out Orsini.
Key Tactics and Advantages:1. Create allies with all the forces in Rome that hate the Pope.2. By creating these alliances, it's clear that Caterina will have a larger and more dedicated army as opposed to the depleted papal forces.
Disadvantages:1. The Borgias never seem to die.
Follow Lindsey on Twitter @LDiMat.
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Amy Brookheimer is going to have to take a break from helping Vice President Selena Meyer clean up all her messes because, well, she has a baby on the way. Okay, kind of... Anna Chlumsky, the actress who stars as Amy on the hit HBO comedic series, Veep, is expecting her first child with her husband Shaun Sho.
"I’m feeling pretty good so far," Chlumsky, 32, tells People. "I was really lucky — I did not have any morning sickness which was great because I was working."
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Chlumsky just finished wrapping the second season of Veep, and is getting ready to be a mother. The couple is "working on getting the nursery ready," she says. And, "I’m being judicious with which books I read because I don’t want to get overwhelmed. Most of the books have to do with how to have a worry-free pregnancy and keep the anxiety down."
Unfortunately, Chlumsky fans are going to have to wait and see if she has a little My Girl or not as Chlumsky and her husband — who tied the know in 2008 — have decided to keep the baby's gender a secret for now.
Follow Lindsey on Twitter @LDiMat.
[Photo Credit: Joseph Marzullo/Wenn]
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Many of Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby characters have been taken on by big names. Leonardo DiCaprio is handling the title role, with Tobey Maguire playing the book's narrator Nick Carraway. Familiar faces like Carey Mulligan, Isla Fisher and Joel Edgerton will also fill the cast list, but there is one actor on set that many Americans might not quite recognize: Amitabh Bachchan. This isn't because Bachchan is new to the craft — far from it. The 69-year-old performer has appeared in nearly 200 films since kick starting his career in the 1970s — Bollywood films.
The Indian actor is taking on the Gatsby role of Meyer Wolfsheim, a Jewish gambler who played a part in fixing the infamous 1919 World Series (in the book, Wolfsheim was a fictional representation of real-life gangster Arnold Rothstein... better known to HBO audiences as Michael Stuhlbarg).
THR reports a quote from Bachchan, regarding the size of his role: "I play Meyer Wolfsheim for about a few seconds ... By the time you look down on your popcorn to pick another morsel, I'd be gone from the film." This is interesting, considering the fact that Wolfsheim's role in the book was substantially more sizable than what Bachchan is describing. The actor posts a message on Twitter, expressing a great deal of appreciation for his part in the film: "'Gatsby' my half blink and you miss role, friendly appearance !! But with giants of Hollywood - Leonardo di Caprio, Tobey Maguire !" A real class act, that Bachchan.
The Great Gatsby arrives in 3D on December 25, 2012.
Note: If you are an American who is familiar with Amitabh Bachchan, please do not bombard the comments section with diatribes about my ignorance. Just take pride in the fact that you are better than the rest of us!
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[Photo Credit: Warner Bros.]

The veteran Indian actor has signed up to star in the big screen adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic tale, playing Meyer Wolfsheim - a Jewish man who loves gambling.
Luhrmann has spoken of his joy at Bachchan joining the cast, which includes Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan, saying, "(I am) personally thrilled that one of the world's greatest screen legends, Amitabh Bachchan, is joining the cast. Over the years, Amitabh's films have made a tremendous impression on my life and work."
Now Bachchan has revealed he's agreed to shoot his part in the film for free.
Taking to his blog, he writes, "Baz Luhrmann, during his private visit to India last year, had dropped by my office to meet me and presented me with some paintings of a prominent painter that was accompanying him.
"He called last month and wondered if I would do this small role in his film and I agreed. It is a gesture. I have refused any remuneration on this too."

It wasn't a glittering weekend for Hollywood as its only wide opening, Glitter, failed to make the Top Ten.
The weekend's biggest success story was Warner Bros.' well attended sneak previews Friday and Saturday night of Castle Rock Entertainment's PG-13 rated drama Hearts in Atlantis, directed by Scott Hicks (Shine) and starring Anthony Hopkins.
Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on New York and Washington, several studios decided to pull films from this weekend's release schedule. Two movies that had loomed as strong box office contenders were suddenly seen as having inappropriate content--Warner Bros.' police corruption drama Training Day, directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke; and Buena Vista/Touchstone's comedy Big Trouble, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and starring Tim Allen and Rene Russo.
In the absence of any strong new arrivals, Paramount's PG-13 rated urban appeal drama-comedy Hardball easily held on to first place with an okay ESTIMATED $8.2 million (-13%) at 2,210 theaters (+73 theaters; $3,710 per theater). Its cume is approximately $19.4 million.
Hardball's average per theater was the highest for any film playing in over 500 theaters this weekend.
Directed by Brian Robbins, it stars Keanu Reeves.
"It held up very well," Paramount distribution president Wayne Lewellen said Sunday morning. "Obviously, we're very pleased with it. I think it's the kind of movie, a feel good movie, that [works well because] of everything that's going on right now. It's also a good movie. It plays very well to the audience."
Asked where it's heading, Lewellen replied, "Right now, with this strong a hold I think it's in the $40 million-plus range."
Ticket sales by key films--those grossing $500,000 or more for the weekend--were approximately $52.9 million, down only about 5.6 percent from the comparable weekend last year's total of $56.1 million. The relatively modest drop from last year suggests that moviegoing did not fall dramatically this weekend and that had there been stronger films entering the marketplace, ticket sales would most likely have been up from last year.
In fact, looking back at this weekend last year, the top grossing film then was Columbia's Urban Legends: Final Cut, which opened to only $8.5 million, very much in line with this year's first place Hardball gross of $8.2 million.
Dimension Films' PG-13 thriller The Others rose three pegs to second place in its seventh week, still showing great legs with an ESTIMATED $5.2 million (+13%) at 2,801 theaters (-42 theaters; $1,856 per theater). Others, which cost only $17 million to make, has a cume of approximately $80.2 million, heading for $90 million or more in domestic theaters.
Directed by Alejandro Amenabar, it stars Nicole Kidman.
"In its seventh week it's the highest it's ever been in the Top Ten," David Kaminow, senior vice president, marketing for Dimension's parent company Miramax, said. "We're sneaking Serendipity next weekend both Friday and Saturday and, obviously, we'll sneak [in theaters playing] The Others. So that will help (boost the thriller's cume). $85 million seems ridiculous (as a projection now and $90 million-plus seems more likely)."
Asked about the film's recently increased television advertising, Kaminow explained, "That was kind of always the plan just in terms of looking at the competitive landscape. We came in on Aug. 10 and we knew that if we could get it into the fall we would still have a couple of solid weeks into September before [the arrival of strong new competition]. This [coming] weekend will be the first time it's really going to face [major competition] between the Michael Douglas movie (20th Century Fox and Regency's thriller Don't Say a Word) and Zoolander [from Paramount, directed by and starring Ben Stiller] and Hearts in Atlantis. In the planning process, this was always on course. It, of course, exceeded expectations. But our goal was to keep it going. The way we released it, starting on 1,600 screens and adding 400 more [the next weekend] was really sort of building and building and building. I think it's a nice model [to use but] you have to have the movie to do it with, though, so it doesn't burn itself out."
Kaminow also pointed out that Others' success adds strength to Nicole Kidman's prospects as an Oscar and Golden Globes best actress contender. "It's great for Nicole," he said. "We definitely think she has a campaign ahead of her."
Columbia's PG-13 rated suspense thriller The Glass House fell one rung to third place in its second week with a slower ESTIMATED $4.4 million (-23%) at 1,591 theaters (theater count unchanged; $2,766 per theater). Its cume is approximately $11.7 million.
Directed by Daniel Sackheim, it stars Leelee Sobieski, Diane Lane and Stellan Skarsgard.
"It's a nice small movie that has taken advantage of a pretty soft marketplace and looks like it could get to $20 million," Sony Pictures Entertainment worldwide marketing &amp; distribution president Jeff Blake said Sunday morning.
Universal and Miramax's PG-13 rated action adventure acquisition The Musketeer fell one notch to fourth place in its third week with a less rousing ESTIMATED $3.51 million (-36%) at 2,500 theaters (+24 theaters; $1,405 per theater). Musketeer, which Universal picked up for North America for only about $3.75 million, has a cume of approximately $22.6 million, heading for $30 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Peter Hyams, it stars Catherine Deneuve, Mena Suvari, Stephen Rea, Tim Roth and Justin Chambers.
New Line Cinema's PG-13 rated action comedy blockbuster sequel Rush Hour 2 rose one rung to fifth place in its eighth week with a solid ESTIMATED $3.65 million (-11%) at 2,129 theaters (-137 theaters; $1,714 per theater). Its cume is approximately $215.7 million, heading for $220-225 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Brett Ratner, it stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.
"It keeps rolling along," New Line distribution president David Tuckerman said Sunday morning. "This is actually what our game plan was--that it would roll all the way through September."
Asked if the fact that Rush 2 is a comedy is helping it during these troubled times, Tuckerman replied, "I think so. I think that the fact that it's a comedy (is a plus) and you just go in for an hour and a half and have a good time. There's nothing else to think about. It's very simple and very funny. I think there are a lot of people in the country who are interested in not thinking about things."
Tuckerman pointed out that other comedies are also benefiting from the public's desire for escapist entertainment these days: "Rat Race is continuing to play well. And American Pie 2 has continued (doing well). They're still stuck in the Top Ten. It looks like [people] are looking for comedy."
Bel-Air Entertainment's R rated drama Rock Star, distributed by Warner Bros., which was tenth last week, tied for sixth place in its third week. Rock got a big boost from Warners' well attended sneaks Friday and Saturday of Castle Rock Entertainment's Hearts in Atlantis.
Thanks to those sneaks, Rock looked a lot livelier with an ESTIMATED $3.2 million (-6%) at 2,162 theaters (-363 theaters; $1,480 per theater). Its cume is approximately $15.4 million.
Directed by Stephen Herek, it stars Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston.
"We had the best sneaks, I think, in the history of Warner Bros.," Warner Bros. Distribution president Dan Fellman said Sunday morning. "There were 510 sneaks and we were 85 percent capacity. We had 94 percent in the Top Two boxes (excellent and very good). [The audience was] 53 percent female and 47 percent male. And, of course, Rock Star was the beneficiary of that. Rock Star moved from number ten to [tie for] number six."
Directed by Scott Hicks and written by William Goldman, Hearts stars Anthony Hopkins.
Hearts opens this Friday (Sept. 28). "We had planned to open at 1,200 theaters, but due to the great reaction and response from our campaign--and, by the way, [Warner Bros. creative advertising executive] Jim Fredrick did a great job--we're probably going to be in close to 1,700 theaters now," Fellman said. "We bought the (additional) prints anticipating a good weekend. We're thrilled that it was well attended, but we didn't expect it to be that [exceptionally] strong."
Fellman agreed that it helped that many people were looking for something new to see this weekend. "And they loved it," he noted. "It's a feel good movie. It comes in at the right time."
Focusing on the health of the current marketplace, Fellman pointed out, "The marketplace being only 16 percent behind last year for the 13 pictures we track is an indication that the marketplace is stronger than we [think it is] because the major companies moved pictures away from this period. We were going to open Training Day this weekend and we moved it back. The tracking is huge. What these numbers show is that without any very strong films in the marketplace, people still went to the movies. There was nothing new that opened [wide] this weekend except Glitter."
Sony's Screen Gems label's R rated urban appeal romantic comedy Two Can Play That Game, which was fourth last week, tied for sixth place in its third week with a less playful ESTIMATED $3.2 million (-31%) at 1,308 theaters (+11 theaters; $2,446 per theater). Made for only $6 million, its cume is approximately $18.2 million, heading for the mid-$20 millions in domestic theaters.
Written and directed by Mark Brown, it stars Vivica A. Fox and Anthony Anderson.
Paramount's PG-13 comedy Rat Race rose one rung to eighth place in its sixth week, still showing good legs with an ESTIMATED $3.0 million (-16%) at 2,417 theaters (-78 theaters; $1,241 per theater). Its cume is approximately $51.6 million.
Directed by Jerry Zucker, it stars Rowan Atkinson, John Cleese, Whoopi Goldberg, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Seth Green, Jon Lovitz, Breckin Meyer and Amy Smart.
Where is Race heading? "Between $55-60 million," Paramount distribution president Wayne Lewellen said Sunday morning. "I think it's got a shot at $60 million."
MGM's Jeepers Creepers, the R rated horror film from the studio's United Artists label, fell one notch to eighth place in its fourth week with a less scary ESTIMATED $2.79 million (-27%) at 2,576 theaters (-271 theaters; $1,083 per theater). Its cume is approximately $33.6 million.
Written and directed by Victor Salva, it stars Gina Phillips, Justin Long, Jonathan Breck and Eileen Brennan.
Rounding out the Top Ten was Universal's R rated youth appeal comedy hit sequel American Pie 2, down two pegs in its seventh week with a less stimulating ESTIMATED $2.65 million (-27%) at 2,117 theaters (-222 theaters; $1,250 per theater). Pie 2, which cost about $30 million to make, has a cume of approximately $139.6 million, heading for $145 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by J.B. Rogers, it stars Jason Biggs, Shannon Elizabeth, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein, Natasha Lyonne, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Tara Reid, Seann William Scott, Mena Suvari, Eddie Kaye Thomas and Eugene Levy.
OTHER OPENINGS
This weekend also saw the arrival of 20th Century Fox and Columbia's PG-13 rated musical drama Glitter out of the Top Ten with a tarnished ESTIMATED $2.5 million at 1,202 theaters ($2,080 per theater).
Directed by Vondie Curtis Hall, it stars Mariah Carey.
Fox, which is releasing Glitter domestically, had planned to open it in late August, but delayed its release after Carey suffered what widespread media reports called a breakdown.
Also arriving was 8X Entertainment's PG-13 rated sequel drama Megiddo: The Omega Code 2, which failed to set the world on fire with an ESTIMATED $1.4 million at 315 theaters ($4,350 per theater).
Megiddo, whose ads do not credit a director, stars Michael York and Michael Biehn.
SNEAK PREVIEWS
This weekend saw Warner Bros. hold sneak previews of Castle Rock Entertainment's PG-13 rated drama Hearts in Atlantis. For details see comments above by Warner Bros. Distribution president Dan Fellman in connection with Rock Star, the film whose theaters were used for the Hearts sneaks.
EXPANSIONS
On the expansion front, this weekend saw MGM's hit comedy Legally Blonde go wider in its 11th week, providing some light entertainment for moviegoers wanting to escape briefly from television news.
The PG-13 comedy's expansion generated a sexy ESTIMATED $1.3 million at 1,304 theaters (+649 theaters; $998 per theater). Its cume is approximately $92.1 million.
Directed by Robert Luketic, it stars Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Matthew Davis, Victor Garber and Jennifer Coolidge with a special appearance by Raquel Welch.
MGM's release of United Artists' R rated youth appeal comedy Ghost World continued to widen in its tenth week, still holding well with an ESTIMATED $0.38 million (even) at 128 theaters (+26 theaters; $2,916 per theater). Its cume is approximately $4.7 million.
Directed by Terry Swigoff, it stars Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Brad Renfro, Illeana Douglas and Steve Buscemi.
WEEKEND COMPARISONS
Key films--those grossing more than $500,000--took in approximately $52.92 million, down about 5.6 per cent from the comparable weekend last year when key films grossed $56.06 million.
This weekend's key film gross was down about 11.06 percent from last weekend of this year, when key films took in approximately $59.5 million.
Last year, Sony's opening week of Urban Legends: Final Cut was first with $8.51 million at 2,539 theaters ($3,350 per theater); and Warner Bros.' opening week of its reissue of The Exorcist was second with $8.18 million at 664 theaters ($12,313 per theater). The top two films one year ago grossed $15.7 million. This year, the top two films grossed an ESTIMATED $13.4 million.

As the under-18 female world continues to mourn the loss of bachelorhood for Backstreet Boys (and cousins) Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell, we've hunted down who we think are their blond, lucky fiancées, or as Backstreet fans know them, The Witches Who Stole Our Future Husbands.
Richardson and Willits Richardson, 28, is engaged to Kristin Willits, a dancer for Cher, says USA Today. The two met in a Disney World cafeteria when Richardson was working as a Ninja Turtle and have been dating off and on for seven years.
As for 24-year-old Littrell, we say his betrothed is longtime girlfriend Leighanne Wallace, a budding actress whose credits include "Wild America," "My Fellow Americans" and two Backstreet videos. She has a few Web sites of her own out there (whether they're hateful or supportive sites is another story). She's 30, which already puts her two decades ahead of most Backstreet fans and as far as they're concerned, dangerously close to Michael Douglas cradle-robbing territory.
Spurned fans, meanwhile, are pouring their hearts out on chat boards across the world, some slamming the Backstreet fiancées as "Yoko Onos" (how do prepubescents even know that reference?) and warning that the group "probably won't be number one or number two on [MTV's 'Total Request Live'] I'll tell you that." Others, who say they have met Wallace, call her everything from "really sweet" to "trash." On MTV Online, another fan wrote: "Now they're just throwing us away like a piece of trash."
Leighanne Wallace But others, bless their hearts, take comfort in knowing the other three Boys -- young blond heartthrob Nick Carter, tattooed, follicularly challenged A.J. McLean and bearded, ponytailed Howie Dorough -- are still single, and their Meaty Cheesy-inspiring music lives on. But one fan dared to speculate, "With all this negativity looming around with those who are obviously fair-weather fans, I wonder what will happen when ANY of the guys from 'N Sync become engaged."
Okay, now that's not funny.
THE BIRTH ACCORDING TO TRAVOLTA: John Travolta's about to become a father again, and reveals that he and wife Kelly Preston plan to introduce the unborn child to Scientology right out of the womb. According to "Entertainment Tonight" and the New York Daily News, Travolta, 45, says Preston, who is eight months along, will have a "quiet birth."
"We do the traditional French Lamaze, but in Dianetics [the teachings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard], you try and keep the delivery room quiet so there's nothing recorded in the child's mind that shouldn't be there while there's pain going on," Travolta explains.
It's not completely quiet, though. Preston, 37, is allowed to moan in pain -- thank goodness -- but "any people saying any kind of negative verbiage may adversely affect the baby later on," says Travolta. Does this mean no discussing around the kid why Travolta agreed to star in "Michael"?
AGE MADE HIM DO IT: Film critic Rex Reed has been working to lift the negative reviews he's gotten since his shoplifting arrest last week. In a column for the Feb. 21 edition of the New York Observer, Reed, 61, claims a "senior moment" caused him to take three CDs from a Manhattan Tower Records store. When he was caught with the compact discs (by Mel Torme, Peggy Lee and Carmen McRae) in his pocket, he offered to pay by credit card, "or the $500 in cash I had in my wallet," but was rejected. "I don't consider myself guilty of anything but careless stupidity," Reed says.
But all is not lost. Reed got a call from Lee's press agent, who said the pop-jazz legend "was so thrilled I wanted one of her CDs enough to put myself through so much hell that she was sending me an entire collection. I hope none of the songs is 'My Funny Valentine.' "
MUSIC BEAT: Carlos Santana, closing in on his likely Grammy sweep on Wednesday, retook the top spot on Billboard's album chart this week. "Supernatural" was followed by: Dr. Dre's "Dr. Dre 2001" and Celine Dion's "All the Way: A Decade of Song," which each moved up one spot. D'Angelo's "Voodoo," which held at No. 1 for two weeks, slipped to No. 4, and Christina Aguilera's self-titled debut stuck to No. 5.
The Top Five singles in the country are as follows: "I Knew I Loved You," Savage Garden; "Thank God I Found You," Mariah Carey featuring Joe and 98 Degrees; "Amazed," Lonestar; "What a Girl Wants," Christina Aguilera; and "Breathe," Faith Hill.
QUICK TAKES: A court has dismissed a bid by the undercover Los Angeles policeman who arrested George Michael in a public restroom in 1998 to sue the British pop star for $10 million on the grounds of emotional distress. Marcelo Rodriguez claimed emotional and mental distress and slander after Michael released the music video for "Outside" shortly after his arrest. The video was shot partly in a lavatory and features two policemen kissing. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge dismissed the case on Monday, saying Rodriguez was a public official and could not under law recover damages for alleged emotional distress ...
... "As the World Turns" star Michael Park, who plays Jack Snyder, and wife Laurie welcomed 7-pound daughter Kathleen Rose into the world Monday in New York ...
... Universal Studios president Ron Meyer threw an engagement/baby party for Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones last weekend, according to the New York Daily News. Sean Connery and Danny DeVito were among those in attendance ....
... So Leo and Brad won't be there, but you can always count on Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Terminator himself has been tapped as a presenter for the 72nd Annual Academy Awards. Same goes for "Austin Powers" groovester Mike Myers. Look for both dudes at the big show, happening March 26 at the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium.
... After playing God (literally) in "Dogma," rocker Alanis Morissette will make her Broadway debut in "The Vagina Monologues" March 21-April 2 at Los Angeles' Westside Theater, says Variety. Morissette filled in for Calista Flockhart Wednesday night in Los Angeles for a V-Day 2000 benefit performance.